


All Tricks, No Treats.

by Drea_is_Dreaming



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Confident Na Jaemin, Flirty Na Jaemin, Halloween, Haunted Houses, M/M, Not Beta Read, Not What It Looks Like, Park Jisung & Zhong Chen Le Are Best Friends, Spooky, Vampires, What Was I Thinking?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:02:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27286867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drea_is_Dreaming/pseuds/Drea_is_Dreaming
Summary: It’s Halloween. And Mark’s idea of having fun is going to a “House of Horrors”. To try and not get scared by people dressed as ghosts and zombies screaming in their faces.Except the house they end up at might actually be haunted.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	All Tricks, No Treats.

It’s Halloween. And Mark’s idea of having fun is going to a “House of Horrors”. To try and not get scared by people dressed as ghosts and zombies screaming in their faces. Dressed in shabby costumes, drenched in fake blood. Renjun knew the deal, Mark’s boyfriend worked there as a part-timer. He was the one who wanted them to come over once and have fun together. Then there were Haechan and Jeno too. The new boyfriends will find plenty of excuses to cling to each other.

Why did he agree to the plan? Well, he’s the introvert of the group, notorious for missing several group outings to the point that Haechan thinks he’s a spy, working undercover. Then there was Jisung, the baby of the group. Park Jisung did not like anything horror-esque. Horror movies, ghost busting shows, that ouija board Haechan so badly wanted to try out. It was a well known fact among their friend group that Jisung was a scaredy-cat. So Renjun agreed to babysit him for this spooky trip. Chances were the employees of the place would get scared by a six feet tall high-schooler jumping in fear. So Renjun tagged along to keep Jisung’s lanky limbs in check.

The second reason for Renjun agreeing with this idea was that the alternative of celebrating Halloween was to go along with Haechan’s ouija board mania. Which- no, just no. It was so stupid to even his boyfriend didn’t agree to it. Not that Renjun believed a toy store-bought board could open up the gates of hell. Most of those things were harmless. Just like the House of Horrors was going to be. The most dangerous thing in there would be Haechan’s ear-piercing shrieks.

Now that they were all on their way, with Renjun and Jisung walking at the front and Jeno and Haechan following with their arms intertwined, Renjun was not regretting it. It was nice meeting up with all of them together. Maybe this Halloween will be fun. Renjun was leading the way to the address Mark had texted. He was already there, waiting for them, or making out with his boyfriend in some seedy alley probably.

Mark had told them it should be 15 minutes walk from Haechan’s house. They had been walking for half an hour now. Renjun knew the couple didn’t notice. They were in some fancy neighbourhood now. Bungalows made of old money. Mostly empty, their wealthy occupants long migrated to the west or just out partying.

There were just two houses with lights on. They had passed more than ten. This neighbourhood had an air of vintage luxury and abandonment. There was a carpet of fallen leaves on the street. Renjun took great care to avoid them and Jisung tried to crush as many as possible. The autumn wind, always slightly colder than expected, kept blowing them in a shifting portrait.

The whistling of the wind was music to Renjun’s ears. He really should come out more often. Another sound which was most certainly not music came from Haechan.

“Renjun! How much longer do we have to walk? It’s cold out here man. Where is that stupid horror house?” He dared to whine. At least he was wearing matching leather jackets with Jeno. Renjun was out here in a flannel shirt thrown over his thin tee.

“We’re almost there. It should be the house at the end,” Renjun pointed at a particularly dark house. " It looks haunted alright."

As the quartet came to a halt at the doorstep of a dilapidated Victorian-style house, Jeno piped up in a tiny doubtful voice,

“Uh, Renjun you sure this is the place?” “The address Mark Hyung texted is this.” “Uh okay cool. It just looks… empty and well, haunted.” The three laughed a little at that. Then Haechan said, “That’s intentional baby.” Giving Jeno half a hug with that too.

“But where is Mark?” Haechan swung his head around, " didn’t you say he would be waiting here for us, Renjun?" “I don’t know man, call him.” “Hmm, weird.” Haechan mused but then dialled his cousin’s number.

After a short conversation, in which Haechan complained loudly and made exaggerated shocked faces even if Mark wasn’t here to see it, Haechan told them Mark had gone to get some ice cream with Lucas. And that they’ll be back soon.

“I can’t believe your cousin abandoned us for a piece of-” " Hey! There’s a child here!" " - ice cream. I was gonna say ice cream. He left us here for ice cream with his boo." Renjun completed with hands raised in defence.

“It’s not Mark hyung’s fault, we were late and he waited too long for us. We can wait for a little too.” Jeno ever the peacemaker reasoned. " But I’m getting cold!" Haechan pouted, stamping his feet. " Should we go inside then? Start without Mark Hyung?" Jisung asked. With uncharacteristic eagerness.

Renjun agreed and Jeno had to give in. So they went into a dark house with a shabby porch and creaking front door. Shutting out the Halloween night.

~~~~~

The house was drowning in darkness, glimpses of pale moonlight seeping through broken window panes. The shadows hung heavy around them, a carpet of dirt and curtains of cobwebs welcomed them. Furniture lying around was covered with white sheets. Renjun pretended it was some piece of furniture, even if it looked suspiciously like a-

“Why is it so dark?” Jeno wondered out loud, from right next to Renjun, making him jump a little. “Because there are no lights on baby,” Haechan answered, most probably rolling his eyes, it was too dark to tell. “Exactly! Why are there no lights in here?” Jeno questioned again. “Uh, it’s a House of Horrors Jeno. Maybe they keep it dark on purpose to set a tone, a lot of people are scared of the dark.” Renjun reasoned. “Still, I expected some eerie lighting,” Jeno said quietly. “I can’t see anything at all.” “Let’s just take out our phones. There might be some neat fake skeletons kept here to scare us and we are missing all the fun.” Haechan said, taking out his phone and turning the flash on, followed by the rest.

Renjun noticed that the multiple sources of light only increased the number of shadows dancing in the corners and running across the walls. They started moving deeper into the house with Jeno exclaiming that he couldn’t find his phone and Jisung teasing him that had he not been busy making out with Haechan till the last minute he would’ve remembered to pocket his phone. Haechan solves that particular issue by telling Jeno to just stick by his side, linking their arms again. Not like they hadn’t been holding hands all this time. Haechan took any excuse to level up his clinging and Jeno is always glad to comply.

They come to a halt after crossing the foyer, at the foot of a wide staircase. Renjun couldn’t be the only one who thought the house was bigger than it appeared to be from the outside. Maybe it was the darkness messing with his perception. Jisung sidled up to him, pulled on his sleeve and asked,

“Hyung, You sure there won’t be any actual ghosts here?” “Positive.” “Okay then.” The boy replied in a small voice.

Renjun rubbed his back a little, this was not the fun outing he had been promised. Renjun felt kinda bad for him. This was Jisung’s first night out and it was not turning out as well as Renjun had hoped. Renjun chuckled at Jisung’s pout and moved away from a little, swinging his phone slowly around to look at the house.

The bannister was coated in dust, left undisturbed for years. As he raised the light towards the top of the staircase, he saw a couple of steps were missing. Jisung abruptly made a surprised noise and shone his light at the top of the staircase. There was nothing but more cobwebs and moulting wallpaper.

“What is it Jisung?” Renjun softly asked. “I thought I saw- eyes? Glowing. Like cat eyes?” He sounded unsure.

“Where is everyone?” Haechan loudly asked before Renjun could give Jisung a reply. “No zombies, or ghosts in sight. Mark Hyung said the props and makeup here were super realistic. The cobwebs look real enough but where are the ghosts? This is boring.”

Renjun was still moving his light around, as he brought it back to the foot of the staircase the rest of his group jumped in surprise. Jisung took hold of his elbow in a tense grip. Jeno shrieked at an impossibly high pitch and Haechan cursed. Standing there, illuminated by the lights of all their phones was not a ghost but a boy. Who might as well have been a ghost, with how soundlessly he materialized.

“Who are you?” “Where did you come from?” Jeno and Haechan both asked together in similar high pitched voices.

The boy looked about the same age as them, dressed in a deep red suit, he was leaning on the bannister post. “I am,” he began in a lofty tone, then jerked to stand straight and said, “wait-, I should be the one asking that. Who are you? And what are you doing here?” He jumped off the last stair with deliberate slowness and got right up in Haechan’s face. Hands propped on his hips, eyes narrowed to slits, fangs bared.

~~~~~

Jaemin was enjoying lounging in an actual bed, with a downy mattress, silken sheets and an abundance of fluffy pillows. It had been too many months since he had been fully awake. Damn this climate change, summers kept arriving earlier, cutting short his blissful winters. It was finally the night of Halloween. Ghouls and goblins were free to walk among and trick humans, without any consequences. And of course, his fellow vampires must be waking up too. After months of sleeping in a coffin full of grave dirt. It felt good to breathe in the cool, fresh air, even if he technically didn’t need to.

Other vampires might’ve gone out to hunt by now, but Jaemin just wanted to quietly enjoy his first night of the season staying home and going through his SNS accounts. There was so much gossip to catch up on, his Creatures Collective group chat had so many messages that it would take him days to go through all of them. Even with his vampire reading skills. His Sire and his contemporaries might look down upon modern technology, but Jaemin recognized what a valuable tool it was. It helped you stay connected, find resources without depending on a mortal. No need to hunt or keep a familiar to feed on when there were so many willing humans to choose from, that too at his fingertips!

So Jaemin was not worried about feeding and replenishing his (scant) bloodstream. He was just gonna go through his insta feed for some time and then watch a drama or movie. He was aggressively liking a bunch of photoshoot pics from his favourite actor when a distracting scent hit him. There weren't many houses occupied near his humble abode. If he could smell humans it meant they were either passing from here or standing right in front. It turned out to be the latter as Jaemin heard the front door slammed open and a couple? There were two or four people. He could hear two voices but there were four pairs of footsteps.

Once in a long while some daredevils wandered in, in search of ghosts or demons. Jaemin usually didn’t bother with such morons, but this time… this time the scent of blood was just too… distracting. He could make out two distinct scents. One sticky sweet, like jam. A pair of lovers it seems. Tempting. The other was calmer, softer, it made Jaemin think of a quiet stream of cool water. And all of a sudden, Jaemin felt like he could use a drink. Maybe he was thirstier than he had thought.

He walked up to the staircase leading towards the foyer and saw the humans huddled in the dark. Then they began swinging around their lights. Jaemin was looking at the source of the particular scent when one ray of light was swung at him. He backed away of course, too quick for human eyes, smoothly jumped down to the base of the stairs. If he made any noise, it wasn’t picked by their human ears.

He was content in the darkness for now and focused again on the boy with the cool soothing scent. Who may or may not have felt eyes on him because he turned his light to Jaemin, followed by the rest of the group. Some exclamations and questions were thrown at him. Jaemin was about to introduce himself when he realised that they were the ones trespassing into his house.

Who did these mortal kids think they were to come barging in and question him? Jaemin hadn’t intended on feeding today, but if the prey had come to him… Why not have a feast?

He bared his fangs and his eyes shone red. But the human in front of him, one of the lovers, spared him one confused glance and then snapped his fingers. And dared to laugh. In his face. In the face of a vampire standing with his fangs bared. In his own house.

“Ah! Right, sorry, you are the one who’ll collect our tickets! Right, sorry we got a little spooked. Almost forgot about it.” Then he took out some garish orange slips of paper and handed them over to Jaemin. Jaemin was so flustered by this unexpected turn of events that he quietly took them.

“Oh yeah, Mark Hyung already bought our tickets, we weren’t trying to get in for free.” The other loverboy explained. “We just got scared when you suddenly came here, like where did you come from? One second the staircase was empty and suddenly you were there-”

" He was probably hiding in the dark all along. This was the jumpscare you paid for Jeno." The first lover boy said. " By the way your contacts are nice, Mark Hyung wasn’t lying that you guys have the best costumes."

" He told me Lucas dressed as a werewolf and his fake fangs were so sharp Mark Hyung cut his finger on them." The second loverboy said.

So, this Mark character was selling tickets to his house? Was Jaemin being turned into a tourist attraction? But these boys didn’t think he was an actual Vampire. Seeing how they weren’t running for their lives. So what did these boys think was going on?

“We have heard a lot about your House of Horrors, Mr Ticket collector. I hope you won’t disappoint.” Finally, the boy who made Jaemin leave the comfy confines of his room and come down to this mess addressed him.

“Jaemin, you can call me Jaemin.” An introduction was long due, and Jaemin held his hand out to the boy. “Renjun.” The boy replied, shaking his hand in a surprisingly firm grip.

“I’m Haechan” “Hi, I’m Jeno” His hand was grabbed and shook, by the two lovers who now had names.

Just one boy hung back, he was tall but his face was cute, like a child’s. Jaemin held his hand out to him and said in his cutesy voice that endlessly irked his friends,

“And who is this baby hiding behind his hyungs?” This was met with a frown and a reluctant handshake. “I’m not a baby, and my name is Jisung if you must know.” He unconsciously pouted a little after snatching his hand back, and Jaemin fought the urge to coo at him. Some humans were so adorable! It was hard to eat them. But there were plenty of options tonight so Jaemin didn’t need to worry.

“And I am Chenle!”

This cheerful proclamation was met with a loud round of surprised curses. The baby- Jisung, had jumped and curved in on himself, with a hand raised to his heart. Understandable, seeing how Chenle was standing right behind him, speaking his greeting right into the unsuspecting boy’s right ear.

Jaemin had seen him of course. He had also half expected the young Vampire to pounce on one of them. But Chenle’s eyes sparkled with mischief, not hunger. He had left earlier to feed, and with the way he bounced over to Jaemin’s side, Chenle was in the mood to play, not prey. Jaemin was always up for a good game. But he also liked to play fair, and keeping these humans in dark was not only unfair but no fun too. Jaemin did like a chase. Since his striking appearance didn’t work, Jaemin decided to be blunt.

“We are going to drink your blood.” Simple, straight forward, and it would’ve been effective too had Chenle not jumped in.

“What he means is you should be scared of us. We are supposed to be vampires you see,” he said, throwing an arm over Jaemin’s shoulders and giving the boys a charming smile. Two of them smiled back, already in his thrall.

“He doesn’t look very scary, or good at scaring,” Renjun told Chenle. “He’s new.” “Hey!” Jaemin could do little in protest than glare at him.

“So are we supposed to run away from you two?” Jisung asked. “No! No need to. We are going to,” Chenle answered, “guide you!”

~~~~~

Vampires were not capable of telepathy, but Jaemin might as well have been. He knew what Chenle’s plan was without talking. The little shit wanted to test just how far he could go before the humans realised that this was not a recreational activity (for them i.e.) and Chenle and Jaemin were not just dressed up as Vampires.

So now they were going through Jaemin’s ~~lair~~ house. Chenle was at the front animatedly narrating the horrifying tales of this house. He had started with,

“About a hundred years ago, a wealthy family, the Kims, moved in here-” “This house is a hundred years old?" Jisung had exclaimed. “Older.” Chenle had whispered, managing to sound sinister, "Full of secrets and grisly stories.” That had seemed enough to intrigue Jisung who had stuck to walking side by side with Chenle.

The lovers, Haechan and Jeno, were already enthralled by Chenle. They followed, nodded and gasped right on cue. No matter what disjointed nonsense Chenle spewed in the name of history of this house. Only Jisung kept innocently questioning the plot holes. And Renjun, well he hung back, at the end of the group, and Jaemin walked next to him too.

Trying to not just lean in, breathe his scent, feel the thrum of blood with fingertips on his neck. Other than that he also felt an unusual urge. To hold the slight boy in his arms, to run his fingers through his dark, slightly too long hair. To look straight into his eyes, caress his face. For now, Jaemin settled to caress that exquisite face with just his eyes. If Renjun felt the intense gaze on him, he did nothing to acknowledge it.

Jaemin had never kept a lover to feed on. It had felt distasteful, to drain the life out of someone you care for, or worse someone who cares for you. The notion had never appealed to him. Until now, he could suddenly understand the popularity of this practice.

Jaemin was thinking of something to say, something smooth, or funny. He had a feeling that any comments about dainty Renjun was, -or how he wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into Renjun- would not be appreciated. Too bad those were the only ideas stuck in Jaemin’s head at the moment.

Before he could say anything, Renjun spoke,

“So, what is it like being a Vampire?” That stopped Jaemin in his tracks. Renjun stopped too, and probably mistook his surprise as confusion. He clarified, “I meant in this house of horrors. What is it like to work here?”

“Oh, uh, it’s not bad. Pretty cool actually.” Let it never be said that after 90 years of living (existing?) as a Vampire, Jaemin had lost touch with modern human society. No sir, he was well versed in the slang currently prevailing among the young.

“Oh, good. So are you friends with Lucas?” “Who?” “Lucas Wong, he’s our friend, he acts as the werewolf here.” “Oh, Lucas! Yeah yeah, we are pretty close.” “Uh huh.”

They were standing in the middle of a long corridor. Chenle had led the rest to the end of it. There were tall windows on one side and a wall lined with portraits on the other. Jaemin turned fully to face Renjun, back now to the wall. He had no doubt his eyes were twinkling in a red a shade deeper than his clothes.

Renjun still stood facing the end of the corridor, the group had now vanished, to the parlour perhaps. Jaemin was too busy to consider what was up with them. His complete attention was captured by the boy in front of him.

The moonlight flooding in through the broken windows threw Renjun’s face in sharp contrast. Half lit up, half shrouded in shadows. It was a sight to behold, even to Jaemin with his enhanced vision.

“Renjun, do you not want to join the other?” “Why? Were you not hoping to get me alone?”

Jaemin’s eyes had not left Renjun’s face for a moment. But now, for the first time, Jaemin felt Renjun’s eye on him. Cool, calculating, piercing. He threw in a smirk for good measure, as if Jaemin could collect himself after even a moment of eye contact. He found himself backed up against the wall, when Renjun braced a hand next to his head, and said,

“Weren’t you going to drink my blood?”

~~~~~

Haechan suddenly found himself in a dark room, staring at a skull. A human skull with dead flowers coming out of the eye sockets. There were some shriveled leaves caught between its teeth too. Huh, weird choice of decor, but this was supposed to be a house full of horrors after all. It was also not the only skull in the room, or the only boney-thingy. There was a whole human skeleton standing at one corner, a few skeletons of birds? Or some other flying animal were hanging from the ceiling.

“Hey Chenle, where do you get all these skeletons anyway?” Jeno asked, breaking up whatever closed conversation their guide was having with Jisung. It was surprising, how quickly Jisung opened up to the golden haired boy. He was never one to mingle with strangers easily.

“Oh, Jaemin Hyung dug them up himself! Grave digging is a popular sport among vampires.”

Jisung looked horrified but Jeno burst out laughing, and Haechan had to laugh too. Jeno’s laughter was just that infectious. Chenle too had a look of utter seriousness, but he joined them in laughing soon enough.

“Your stories are really something Chenle.” Haechan told him. “Have you ever thought of writing fiction? You’d make good money, and wouldn’t have to work here.”

“Reality is often stranger than fiction hyung.” he smirked. “ And I’m not interested in books. Books bore me.”

“Then what are you interested in?” Haechan asked, very pointedly looking at Jisung.

“Blood.” Chanel replied seriously, and then gave a bright smile to a laughing Jeno. But seeing Jisung back away a little from Chenle at that, Haechan did not feel like laughing anymore.

~~~~~

Jaemin felt rather than saw the sharp point of the proverbial stake press into his neck. His eyes were still locked with Renjun’s. Who looked a little too confident for a twenty something boy facing a hundred and ten year old vampire. His jaw was set, hands held rigid, eyes fierce. He really thought he could do it. That he could kill a vampire with a piece of sharpened wood. He was not just a pretty boy, he was a pretty tough boy. Jaemin had to admire his confidence.

“Fine, I admit it. I came down here because I wanted to drink your blood. What about you Renjunie? Why did you come here?” Jaemin asked in his cutesy voice. Chenle might say that it looked ridiculous, but Jaemin had thrown many experienced hunters off their game with it. “Are you perhaps here to kill me?” He ended with a pout and heartbroken eyes.

He had succeeded in getting under the boy’s skin, if the twitch in his right eye was any indication. Jaemin took hold of his wrist and twirled him around as if they were dancing. Renjun ended up with the wooden stake in his hand now pointed at his own throat. Jaemin’s hand engulfed his, to keep the weapon at a safe distance. His back pressed to Jaemin’s chest. Not that he would dare to move, but Jaemin still curled an arm around his torso. Just because he could.

He could feel every careful breath Renjun inhaled, every angry exhale. He could feel the boy’s heart beating quicker and quicker. The blood in his veins rushed faster in fright. Yet on the outside, Renjun held still. Hmm, no worries, Jaemin had plenty of tricks up his sleeves to rile him up.

“Even with that neat little stake, there was no way you could’ve killed me by stabbing my neck Renjunie.” Jaemin said, propping his chin on the boy’s shoulder, so the words were whispered right into his ear.

“If I had wanted to kill you, I would’ve aimed the stake at your heart. You would’ve been dead already.” came the icy reply from between clenched teeth.

~~~~~

Haechan’s ringtone blared EXO’s Monster in the barren kitchen of the house of horrors. Chenle had been telling how there were things that vampires could eat, and he was telling Jisung one particularly grisly recipe which made Jeno squirm in disgust and Haechan feel even more uncomfortable than he had been in the bone room. Bones room. Room of bones. Whatever the hell that was. Jisung however was listening intently, with a studious focus. Like he’d have to face an exam based on these fake recipes.

Seeing Mark’s terrible selfie reminded Haechan of his cousin’s existence. He was also reminded of the fact that the said cousin was the one who had planned this outing, and was supposed to be here too. He quickly picked up and screamed at him for taking so long with the couple ice cream. Except Mark was screaming right back at him. The audacity!

~~~~~

“Even if you had managed to beat my superhuman reflexes. This shiny piece of wood is useless. It could do me no harm-” Jaemin’s smug response was cut short when Renjun’s elbow collided (quite painfully) with his jaw. The boy swung out of his embrace and jabbed the stake right back at Jaemin’s throat.

This time it wasn’t just a touch. This time Renjun pressed it with enough pressure for Jaemin to feel the burn. Oh no. Oh this was bad. The sensation made Jaemin widen his eyes in realisation and look at the boy in a new light.

“But your reflexes are not exactly superhuman at the moment are they? I made sure to catch you before that.”

Several things became very clear to Jaemin in that moment. This boy had not wandered in here. He was not just a part of some stupid cult looking for unnecessary trouble. This boy had come here to hunt. Him.

“As for this shiny stake. It’s made out of a tree standing in a graveyard. I believe it can cause you more harm than the winter sun.”

And he knew what he was doing. He knew where to find Jaemin. He knew Jaemin’s superhuman abilities would be weakened. A starving Vampire was a weakened Vampire. And a weakened Vampire was almost human. He knew exactly what he needed to kill Jaemin.

“I must say I am flattered. You did your research before coming for me.” Jaemin couldn’t help but smirk. " You are very brave coming for a starving Vampire. Using yourself as bait."

“Oh, I wasn’t supposed to be your bait.”

Jaemin stared at him in disbelief.

“Waaah… you are cold hearted.”

“That’s funny, coming from you.” Renjun raised his eyebrows.

~~~~~

“Mark Hyung where are you? We’ve seen half the house already-” “Where have I been? Where the hell are you guys? Lucas and I have been waiting at the front for half an hour now.” Mark’s pissed off voice came from the other end. “What? You told us to go inside without you!” Haechan said. “What? I did not!” “Okay okay, calm down. You can come in now-” “Come in where Haechan? Where are you guys?”Do “What do you mean where? We’re at that House of Horrors you told us to meet up at.” “No we are at the House of Horrors, Lucas and I are here. Where are you guys? We asked Lucas’ coworkers, they told us you guys aren’t inside, so stop playing Haechan.” “What?” “I said I know you guys aren’t here yet. I’m not dumb Haechan, the line is too long for you guys to have been inside already. So wherever you are, hurry up and get your asses here.” “Wait, what line?” Haechan had to ask, he was thoroughly confused. “The que at the front! There’s easily 30 people standing right now.”

“There’s no que at the front Hyung.” Even though he knew, Haechan still moved towards a window and peered outside. Yep, the street was as vacant as it had been when they first walked up to the house. So what the hell was Mark talking about?

In the background Jeno exclaimed, “Chenle how can you define the taste of blood like that!” In response to which Chenle said, “ Easy, I’ve been drinking it for like, 70 years.”, and the two laughed again. Haechan gave the two a hard look. It was like Jeno couldn’t help but laugh at everything Chenle said. Jisung on the other hand did not look one bit amused.

Haechan returned to his phone call and said, “Mark hyung I’m not kidding, the house we are at, there’s nobody outside.” “…..” “I honestly cannot see anyone outside, not you, not Lucas, not anyone else.” “Haechan, where are you? Seriously. Tell me the address.” “Uh… I don’t know Hyung, we walked to the address you sent to Renjun.” “Renjun? I didn’t send him any address Haechan, I sent it to you!”

~~~~~

Jaemin should probably be worried that a capable, evidently well trained hunter had cornered him in his own house. Even so, he couldn’t help but be impressed. He told Renjun as much.

"You came here just as the sunset, so you could get me before I left the house to feed. Catching me at my most vulnerable state. Brought a couple clearly in love to lure me. And from the stake I know you are not working on you are not just attacking blindly. I must say Renjunie, I am impressed. You have both the brains and the bravery to kill a vampire.”

“I know. But as I said I’m not here to kill-”

“A brilliant plan you had there Renjunie. Still, I can’t help but wonder, why a skilled hunter like you would resort to using his friends as bait? Why take the risk of facing a vampire -no matter how starved- alone?”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Renjun snarked back, but the response only egged Jaemin on.

“One would almost think you are doing something you aren’t supposed to…” that definitely hit a nerve, Renjun’s slow, tense inhale proved that, “Almost, like you are disobeying orders. Breaking a rule.” Jaemin ended with a sharp smirk.

“What would you know about our rules?”

“I know enough Renjunie. I know Hunters are not allowed to track any vampire in a group smaller than one of three. Let alone go solo.”

“Stop calling me that.” was the only thing Renjun could come up with in response. So Jaemin’s deductions had been correct.

“What? Renjunie? Why? Don’t you like it?” Jaemin tilted his head, feigning confusion.

“No.” came a quick, curt reply.

“But Renjunieeee….” Jaemin stretched out the last syllable sweetly, “Your heartbeat tells me otherwise. Your heart says it really likes me when I say that.”

~~~~~

Haechan realised Renjun wasn’t with them, hadn’t been for some time now. The long corridor lined with creepy portraits, where Chenle had told stories of how all the people, or were murdered. Renjun hadn’t said anything. The creepy room with the bones, Renjun wasn’t there. This useless kitchen, Renjun was still missing. Actually no one was here now. The three had proceeded, leaving Haechan standing alone in the dark. This struck Haechan more than anything that had happened since they entered the house. Jeno left him behind. Ever Since they had met for the first time in middle school, jeno had never left him alone.

Haechan moved to follow Chenle’s loud, tinkling voice out of this kitchen while still talking to Mar on the phone.

“I don’t know the exact address, Hyung, never saw it. We just followed Renjun.” “Then at least give me some directions.” Mark’s exasperation was clear in his voice. “Uh… You know that posh old neighbourhood, near that fancy girl’s school?” “This neighbourhood or scholl has a name or nah?” “Ugh” it most certainly did, but Haechan just couldn’t recall it at the moment. He had come out of the kitchen and tried to look where Chenle’s voice was coming from, but he couldn’t. It was like Haechan could hear his laughter on his right, and then he heard Jeno laugh on his left, but- “Haechan! I’m getting really worried, give me something I can work with. Come on!” “Sorry Hyung, It’s that school where our neighbour went. You remember Mina?” “Mina? Oh, yeah yeah I remember. Damn Haechan that’s like on the opposite side of the city.”

Haechan could not think of a response to that. He had been turning in circles, opening trying to pinpoint where his boyfriend’s voice was coming from.

“Haechan! Haechan listen to me very carefully. I’m coming. I’m coming there with Lucas. You guys get out of there. Get out of that house right now, and wait for us outside. And don’t-” “Hyung? Mark Hyung?”

Haechan took the phone away from his ear when his cousin’s voice was cut off. Oh great, his phone was dead now. Jeno didn’t have his phone with him but Haechan could’ve called Jisung. He had two choices now, keep wandering through this labyrinth of a house, or retrace his steps and go back out. He decided the second was the sensible thing to do. It’s what Mark would’ve done. So Haechan obviously rejected that option and went further in, to look for his boyfriend.

~~~~~

“You-” Renjun was so flustered his face turned pink, and Jaemin was thankful his vampire vision could pick it up even in this darkness.

“I listen to a person’s blood the way humans listen to music. The rush of your blood in anger, anticipation?” Jaemin tilted his head in question. “It sounds like a song to me. The blood rushing to your face? It is a work of art to my eyes Renjun.” Jaemin left the teasing out of his voice. Yes, he was in mortal danger. Yes, the human did not care for his flirting. But Jaemin would always stay true to his values. He would compliment beauty sincerely. No matter what. He was an honest man.

Renjun sputtered some more, and Jaemin would have raised a hand to cup his cheek, to soothe him. But Jaemin had no intentions of being stabbed in his jugular with a stake. Even by a boy as pretty as Renjun. So he stayed put.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Then why don’t you do the talking Renjunie?” Jaemin asked. “ Why don’t you tell me what brought you here. What made you disregard age old protocols and hunt down a vampire all on your own? You are a smart boy Renjun, and I cannot, for the life of me, understand why you would do something so stupid?”

Renjun did nothing more than furrowing his eyebrows.

“Sketchy motives aside. What’s stopping you from killing me know?”

“I’m not here to kill you.”

“No you are not. You just want to injure me. I know Renjunie. Stabbing my neck won’t be enough to end me. Injure me grievously? Yes. I’ll probably pass out for a couple of hours. But I won’t die. Then why? Why are you going through all this trouble just to hurt me a little Renjun?”

Silence.

“Still you won’t even stab my neck. Why?” Jaemin was growing restless now. He had played nice long enough. He had no intention of hurting an innocent young boy. But he could only so long control his thirst. It had been months since he had last tasted blood. The stake at his neck wasn’t helping. It’s not like he couldn’t break free or overpower renjun even in this weakened state. Jaemin had stayed complacent all this while because Renjun had kept him intrigued. Who? How? Why? All these questions filled up Jaemin’s mind with regards to this petite human. He couldn’t get answers out of a boy drained of blood. But Jaemin was done playing. Chenle could keep this game on, but he was done. Chenle…

“Oh. You didn’t expect there would be some other vampire here too.” Jaemin could now make a little sense of his reluctance. Blood, even if it was of a vampire, would attract even more vampires to the house. Any bloodshed would certainly drive the in-house vampire berserk. Renjun was worried about Chenle.

Had Jaemin been human, he would’ve been scared of Chenle too. He wasn’t particularly dangerous, but he was unusual, for a vampire.Volatile. Unpredictable.

“Are you perhaps regretting using your friends as bait? Scared for their lives? I’ve been very friendly, but Chenle might not spare their lives.” Jaemin knew it was mean, but he couldn’t resist teasing. “Isn’t little Jisung scared of ghosts?”

“I think you should be the one scared for your friend’s life.” Renjun teased right back.

“I beg your pardon.”

~~~~~

“Chenle, are you sure there aren’t any real ghosts in here?” Jisung timidly asked. Ducking under cobwebs hanging off door frames.

“Positive. I’ve been coming here for decades. If there were any ghosts, I would’ve scared them away already.” Chenle reassured him.

Jisung was strange. He was taller than Chenle, had a deep voice, he was a senior in high school and was excited to attend University next year. Unlike Chenle who would forever be 19. If anything he should be intimidating people. Yet he was so scared of these shadows, the stupid bones. Even Chenle’s favourite recipes. And of course the ghosts. Chenle had told him about a dozen times that there weren’t any ghosts in this house. Even if there had been at one point, they definitely left when Jaemin hyung woke up. Ghosts don’t really get along with vampires.

“Don’t you trust me Jisung-ah?” Chenle turned to face him and asked loudly.

Jisung got startled by the sudden rise in volume, looked at Chenle carefully for a moment and then nodded, almost reluctantly.

“I trust you.”

Chenle beamed at that. “Good, just stay by my side, I’ll protect you!”

Jisung laughed in surprise as Chenle intertwined their arms, and thanked him in a soft voice.

On they went and Chenle decided that Jisung might be strange, but he was adorably so. Chenle had always wanted friends his age, but there weren’t many vampires this young. And his coven prohibited befriending humans. Still Chenle had wanted nothing more than a human friend. Someone who could keep him connected to the world outside the shadows. He knew Jaemin assumed Chenle wanted to end this game by drinking these humans dry. But Chenle just wanted to play, to talk, to laugh. He did not want this game to end.

They were in the attic, Chenle and Jisung side by side, when a large shadow came rushing towards them. Chenle brushed it aside easily, it was just a piece of cloth that flew over because of the cold wind blowing through the broken window. All the old furniture was covered in white sheets like that. Chenle knew that but Jisung did not. He disentangled his arm from Chenle’s hold and brought out a gun?

Whatever it was, it released a spray of water when Jisung pulled the trigger. Jisung had aimed it at the unruly cloth but Chenle’s fingertips caught a few drops. And the impact sent him reeling. The sensation was hot and stinging. When Chenle shook the cloth away and looked at his finger, the skin at the tips was red and blistering. Holy water.

“Chenle what was that? Are you okay?” Jisung asked, still holding the holy water sprayer.

“Yeah, it was just a piece of cloth Jisung, no need to worry.” Chenle laughed it off. " But what do you have there?"

“Oh this?” Jisung said, raising his hand. “This is a water gun. It’s a really cool toy.”

" Oh and why did you bring along a water gun to a haunted house, Jisung?" Chenle asked carefully.

" It’s not just water Chenlee! It’s filled with Holy water! If any ghost or demon tried to mess with us, it could come in handy." Jisung explained.

" Do you really believe in demons?" Chenle asked, laughing nervously.

" Yeah, vampires too. It’s the night of Halloween after all. Can’t be too careful."

Now Chenle was no dummy. But Jisung… could he really be a hunter? He had the build, the weapon, and most of all the reflexes to match a vampires. No matter how quick Chenle was, a few drops had landed on his hand.

“Jisung… who- no, why are you here?” Chenle asked. Jisung took a long moment to reply.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you come here to ki- to kill me?” Chenel asked, he was kinda upset. No, he was very upset. He had been making plans of all the cool human stuff he could do with Jisung. He really thought he had found a friend. “No Chenle!” he exclaimed.

“I can tell you are a hunter Jisung, and I’m sure you guessed I’m actually a vampire.” Chenle sat down on the dust covered floor of the attic, dejected.

“Yeah well, you are right,” Jisung said, hesitantly sitting down next to Chenle. “But I’m not supposed to kill you. I’m just supposed to keep you away.”

“Away from what?” Chenle asked, trying not to sulk. He had had a blood bag breakfast. So he wasn’t very tired or hungry. If things got bad he could fight Jisung. He hadn’t faced any hunters in his short life as a vampire, but he’s no easy prey. He’s not gonna let a potential friend kill him.

“From Jeno and Haechan Hyung.” “Why? “You enthralled them. Wait, where are those two anyways?” “Uh, I don’t think they are in my thrall now.” “Why?” “I need to make eye contact for that, or keep talking to them.'' Chenle answered, the same way he had been answering Jisung’s odd curiosities all this evening. “Woah, that’s really cool.” He blurted out, and then, “ I’m not supposed to say that, but still, you are kinda cool Chenle.” “Thanks” Chenle had to laugh a little. Heart hurting a little less.

~~~~~

“Jisung? That little baby? You are telling me he’s a hunter?” Jaemin could not control his surprise. “Woah how old is he? Twelve? Fifteen?” “He’s nineteen.” Renjun corrected with an incredulous face. “But isn’t he scared of ghosts?” “He’s scared of ghosts not Vampires.” “Still so young, and yet he’s out hunting the immortal undead? Wow, I don’t know about you Renjunie, but I am very proud of the baby.”

Renjun stuttered over several words before backing away from Jaemin altogether. He gave Jaemin a thoroughly befuddled look. Eyebrows scrunched, eyes narrowed, lips parted. Head threw back slightly and hands on his hips. He turned his back to Jaemin briefly, looking out the window, then turned back and pointed at him with the stake.

“Firstly.” He said, holding up the index finger of his unoccupied hand, “he’s a high school senior. Secondly, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“Uh… a lot of things. Firstly,” Jaemin raised his index finger too, “ I am technically dead and yet. I can eat Jams, which is human food and Vampires shouldn’t be able to digest that. Secondly-”

“No! Why are you acting like this? Why are you not threatening me? Why are you not trying to hurt me? Or drink my blood?”

“Are you… offended I’m not… trying to… kill you?” Jaemin tried to guess.

“You are a monster. That’s what monsters do. Why are you acting all nice?”

Oh. This boy had come here to hunt a monster, but he found just another boy. Jaemin used to get offended when humans would just assume they were mindless monsters, like zombies. Nearly a century later, and he’s just hurt.

~~~~~

Haechan ran into Jeno just as he was about to lose his mind running around this horrifying house.

“Yah! Lee Jeno!” “Haechan!”

There was some bickering, some mutual checking over each other. A tight hug, and if Haechan kissed Jeno’s cheek like a total softy, well, no one was around to see.

“Where were you? How could you leave me behind in that creepy kitchen?” “Where was I? Where were you? We were going up to the attic when I realised you weren’t behind me.”

After a little more pointless arguing along those lines, Haechan caught Jeno up about his phone call with Mark Hyung. Jeno’s response was eyes blown wide in bewilderment.

“So you’re telling me, Renjun got this address from someone who’s not Mark Hyung but acting like him. And that Mark Hyung is on the other side of the town at the House of Horrors we were supposed to go to?”

“Yes. Absurd I know, but honestly, Mark Hyung is not playing a prank on us -he sounded seriously scared. And we are definitely not playing any pranks. If anything, we are the ones being pranked.”

“Wait so what is this place? And Chenle? What about all that?” Jeno asked.

“This house, Jeno? This might be an actual haunted house after all.”

Jeno scoffed at that, “Come on, ghosts aren’t real and even if they were, Vampires definitely don’t exist.” Haechan wanted to agree but he couldn’t, for some odd reason.

“Let’s go find Jisung and Renjun. Then we’ll go out and wait for Mark Hyung.”

~~~~~

“Jisung, you said you had to keep me away from Jeno and Haechan Hyung. But what about Renjun Hyung, are you not worried about him?” Chenle asked suddenly. Jisung was in the middle of explaining what slime was. His hand which had been flying around animatedly, fell back to his lap.

“Ah. No, Renjun Hyung will be okay.” “He’s a hunter too?” “Yeah, he’s my senior actually.”

“If you are not going to kill me, and you obviously didn’t come here looking for me then. Is Renjun Hyung going to kill Jaemin Hyung?” Chenle was low-key worried about his friend. Sure Jaemin Hyung had more experience with hunters than him, but still.

“Oh no. Don’t worry, Renjun Hyung isn’t here to kill him. At worst he might resort to kidnapping, but he’s not going to kill anyone.” The confidence with Jisung said that reassured Chenle somewhat.

“Okay. I trust you Jisung. If you think Jaemin Hyung would be okay, then I’ll just sit here too.” Chenle smiled at him and then urged him to tell more about his old toys and new video games.

~~~~~

“Since neither of us seems inclined to commit murder tonight. Why don’t you tell me why you are here. In my house?” Jaemin asked at long last. There was no playfulness in his voice now, or his words. Maybe that’s what made Renjun answer so promptly.

“I came here looking for a vampire who had ties to the High Council in Seoul. I had information this house belonged to a member.” Renjun said, face betraying no emotions.

“It does. This house was given to me by my Sire, he is a member of the High Council.”

“Who is he and where can I find him?” Renjun fired back. All doubt had left his eyes. They were back to being cold and intelligent. So much knowledge, such composure, such surety, and yet so much hesitation. This was not a boy out for blood. He had not once attacked Jaemin with the intent to kill, not once aimed the stake at his heart.

All the hunter Jaemin had encountered had never wasted a single second to make the killing move. Vampire hunting was not a business which warranted dilly-dallying. Any moment spared could cost the hunter their life. The hunters were all ruthless killing machines. Most of them turning to violence instead of mourning. Seeking revenge for a lost loved one.

But the boy in front of Jaemin now. He was not looking for revenge. Then what? What will he get out of sparing Jaemin’s life? Why would the life of a vampire be something worth sparing for a human. And a hunter at that? What would he gain from Jaemin remaining undead?

“Tell me everything you know about him.”

There it was. Answers. This boy wanted answers. Information, for which he had risked not just his life but that of his friends too. What could have made him this desperate? Jaemin had half a heart to answer him honestly. To help this boy however he could. But he was asking for too much.

“And why would I do that? Sell out my Sire to a hunter?”

“Listen-”

The sound of a car screeching to a halt interrupted Renjun, who went up to the window to see who it was. Two boys jumped out of the car and started shouting for Renjun and the rest of his friends. Jaemin could hear footsteps, four pairs, coming downstairs from the central staircase. Time to say goodbye.

“I don’t know what, or who it is you are looking for, Renjun. But I honestly hope you find it.” with that Jaemin left before Renjun could so much as turn back to face him.

He found Chenle standing among the three humans, almost looking like one himself. He walked up to him -at vampire speed, which startled the humans- and told him it was time to leave. Chenle must’ve realised something was seriously wrong, because he didn’t complain. Just took hold of Jaemin’s arm and waved a quick goodbye to Jisung.

Even before the humans could ask Jaemin where the hell he had come from, the two vampires had vanished from their sight.

~~~~~

Renjun walked back to the foyer to find Mark Hyung fussing over Haechan, Jeno and Jisung. Checking them, especially Jisung for any injuries. When he noticed Renjun, his eyes automatically did a worried check, before he remembered that he should be mad at Renjun. As the rest of the group was leaving the house, Mark Hyung stopped Renjun with a hand on his elbow.

“I’m not going to tell Taeyong Hyung about it. But what you did today was extremely irresponsible, insane even. What were you even thinking Renjun? You broke like, a dozen rules. No hunter can venture into the night alone. At the very least a trio can be dispatched. That’s the first rule we were taught Renjun. How could you break that?” Mark reprimanded him in a furious whisper.

“I did not break that rule,” Renjun replied, trying to remain calm.

“Excuse me? Jisung doesn’t count, he isn’t done with is training yet, and even if he was there were still just two-”

“There were three hunters. You are forgetting Haechan. He’s a Lee, he can’t be excluded forever.”

“There’s a reason for that. Your blood doesn’t make you a hunter Renjun, neither does your family. It’s your training and conviction that counts. Also, discipline which you forgot all about tonight.”

“Mark my brother has been missing for a month!” Renjun could not contain his emotions anymore. “I’m just trying to find out if he’s at least alive. Or if we should stop looking.” His vision blurred. Great now he was gonna cry in front of Mark and if Haechan saw him, Renjun would never hear the end of it.

Mark probably thought his words had pushed Renjun to tears. So he stopped using those and just pulled Renjun in for a hug. They went out after a couple of minutes and after Renjun had composed himself. Mark weaved a story of how Jaemin and Chenle were probably just kids who lived near the house and had decided to prank them after seeing them walk towards the abandoned house. It was Halloween after all. His story did not explain the address change but it was enough to satisfy a tired Jeno. Haechan was not asking any questions either. For now. Jisung just kept quietly staring out the window as the car sped through the streets.

As for Renjun, he only had the image of that house imprinted behind his eyelids. The one last look he took before getting in the car. He had seen Jaemin, standing close to one of the windows upstairs. Not that he had any way of telling it was Jaemin. All he saw was a pair of shining red eyes. Piercing through the darkness. Looking right at him.

~~~~~

**Author's Note:**

> This was a mess and if you have reached this note I am very grateful.
> 
> I just really wanted to write something for Halloween.
> 
> I may or may not have a bigger picture in mind. This certainly isn't the last time Renjun will meet Jaemin. 
> 
> Happy Halloween!


End file.
